This is a good Southern New Year's Day meal. Coca-Cola was invented in Atlanta, Georgia where their worldwide headquarters resides to this day. You might think that braising your ham in Coke would cause it to be sickeningly sweet, but you won't find that to be the case. This is just an incredibly easy but unique way to prepare a ham that will give you a flavor you cannot get any other way. And by that, I mean you cannot use any other cola besides Coke. And by that I mean, you cannot use any Coke besides Classic Coke. Diet Coke will not work, so if you have an aversion to sugar, try another recipe. You can actually braise a ham in just about any liquid: beer, wine, fruit juice, chicken stock, even water. If you choose to use the latter, season it with whatever spices and seasonings you have on hand: garlic, mustard seed, thyme, basil and peppercorns would work just fine, but really, you can be as creative and daring as you want.
Be sure you get a fully cured, smoked ham, not a salt-cured "country" ham. If you are using a fresh ham, you will have to cook the meat considerably longer than this recipe. Don't get a spiral sliced ham as the slices will fall apart during the braising process. Also, don't get one of those de-boned, flavor injected packaged hams that come in the shape of a football, and most especially, don't get a canned ham. Yuk. Look for quality and be willing to pay for it.
Now, a lot of people think that the tradition of eating black eye peas on New Year's Day for good luck is a Southern thing. But the truth is, this tradition goes back to the fifth century BC as a part of a meal for good fortune eaten on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It became a standard code of Jewish conduct in the 16th century and black eye peas are eaten by Sephardi and Israeli Jews on the eve of Rosh Hashanah to this day.
In 1730, a large contingent of Sephardi Jews migrated to Georgia, bringing this custom and the beans with them. The heat loving crop quickly took to Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas, and came to Texas and Virginia after the Revolutionary War. It is easy to see why, therefore, that black eye peas are often associated with "soul food" and Southern cooking.
My recipe for black eyes cooked in a crock pot is just about the easiest thing you can make, just be aware of the need for a full day of cooking time. This meal begs for collard greens and corn bread. You can look up my recipe for collard greens by clicking here.
Ingredients
For the ham
8 to 10 pound smoked or cured ham shank, bone-in
2 medium sweet onions, sliced into thin rings
16-32 ounces Coca-Cola® (depending on the size of your ham and cooking vessel)
1-1/2 tbsp molasses
2 tsp powdered mustard (like, Coleman's)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cloves
Ingredients
For the black eye peas
1 lb dried black eye peas
2 cups chicken stock (like, Kitchen Basics or Swanson's)
2 cups chicken broth (like Campbell's or Swanson's)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and finely diced
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
2 cups of leafy celery, finely diced, including leaves
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
8 oz diced salt pork or thick-cut bacon
1 tbsp black pepper
Ingredients
For the tomato relish
3 tbsp olive oil
2 cups fresh diced very ripe tomatoes (or use 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes like, Hunt's, plus two fresh tomatoes, diced)
3 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tsp of dried basil
2 tsp of dried oregano
6 tbsp of distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
pinch of salt
The Recipes
For the black eye peas:
Put the dried beans in a pot of cold water and bring it to the boil for two minutes. Then, remove the pot from the stove and let it sit covered for one hour. Drain the peas and discard the soaking water. Then, put the beans and all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on high for two hours, then reduce to low and cook at least another five hours. One trick I use is to fill the crock pot with hot water and set it on high for thirty minutes before I use it. This way, the ceramic pot comes to temperature much more quickly, making your total cooking time more efficient.
For the tomato relish:
In a pan, heat the oil and sauté the tomatoes for 5 to 10 minutes, or until soft. Stir in the remainder of the ingredients. Simmer on low heat, stirring regularly, for 30 to 45 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat, stand for 20 minutes so the relish will continue to thicken. Spoon on top of black eye peas, but it compliments the ham quite nicely, too.
For the ham:
Put the ham in a large Dutch oven. Place the onion rings around and on top of the ham. Pour the Coca-Cola over all, enough to come up half-way to the top of the ham. Cover, bring to a boil on high heat, then turn the heat down to keep the liquid at a heavy simmer, cooking the ham 45 to 60 minutes. Turn the ham over and continue to cook covered another 45 to 60 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees.
Remove the ham from the Dutch oven, and reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid. Add the molasses, powered mustard, brown sugar and ground cloves to the liquid and whisk to combine.
Baste the top of the ham with the glaze and pop in the 500 degree oven for 20 minutes until the glaze becomes brown and bubbly. Let the ham rest for ten minutes before carving.
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